Othniel Charles Marsh (October 29, 1831 – March 18, 1899) was a famous American paleontologist of the Victorian era, and archrival to the other main palaeontological star in America at the time, Edward Drinker Cope.
Their bitter rivalry, known as the Bone Wars, was what discovered a large number of famous dinosaurs, from Allosaurus to Diplodocus, from Stegosaurus to Apatosaurus (this going hand in hand with the complex confusion over the erroneously described Brontosaurus). They had genuinely become so fiercely opposed, that their competition to find the biggest and best dinosaurs, and in the greatest numbers, even saw their paid workmen (not so far away from cowboys) take potshots at each other, take pickaxes and even dynamite to destroy each others fossils in spite, and some theft. It was called the 'Bone Wars', perhaps the oddest and equally most shameful episode in the history of palaeontology. That said, it did churn out dozens of now classic species. It can be said that Othniel Charles Marsh was the 'victor' of the competition, as while he simply discovered more than E.D Cope, and named more, (80 total) and his fame and reputation only strengthened by and large, E.D Cope's career took a steep downturn and he was sidelined, even becoming somewhat untrusted as a serious scientist, with ever more erratic ideas. Othniel C.M was always his nemesis. Marsh died in 1899 as a result of pneumonia. It is thought that many valuable fossils of then-undocumented species and genus, but they were destroyed during the Bone Wars. Humorously, Othnielia rex was named after Othniel Charles Marsh, but was Nanosaurus before. And was named by Othniel. Then, Edward Drinker Cope made a new genus, Drinker, before it was found out Nanosaurus and Drinker were the same species, but were both brought together under Othnielia rex, honoring the original discoverer. Then, it was brought back to Nanosaurus to settle between the two honorable paleontologists. Othniel wrote many books, which proved invaluable to help Darwin's theory of evolution.
taxa named by Marsh[]
Hesperornis regalis, as drawn by Othniel Charles Marsh in his book, Odontornithes: a Monograph on Extinct Birds of North America.
Marsh was responsible for naming and discovering several prehistoric species, of which the most notable of which are listed below.
A[]
- Allosauridae
- Allosaurus
- Anchisauridae
- Anchisaurus
- Apatornis
- Apatosaurus
- Atlantosaurus
B[]
- Baptornis
- Barosaurus
- Boavus
- Brontosaurus
C[]
- Camarasaurus grandis
- Camarasaurus lentus
- Camptosaurus
- Ceratops
- Ceratopsia
- Ceratopsidae
- Ceratosauria
- Ceratosaurus
- Chamops
- Cimolestes
- Cimolomyidae
- Cimolopteryx
- Claosaurus
- Coeluridae
- Coelurus
- Colodon
- Coniophis
- Coniornis
D[]
- Dermodactylus
- Desmostylus
- Didelphodon
- Diplodocidae
- Diplodocus
- Docodon
- Dryolestes
- Dryosaurus
- Dryptosaurus
E[]
- Edmontosaurus annectens
- Eobatrachus
G[]
H[]
- Halisaurus
- Hallopus
- Helaletes
- Hesperornis
I[]
- Ichthyornis
- Ichthyornithes
L[]
- Laopteryx
- Laosaurus
M[]
- Macelognathus
- Miohippus
- Moropus
- Mosasauria
N[]
- Nanosauridae
- Nanosaurus
- Nodosauridae
- Nodosaurus
- Nyctosaurus
O[]
P[]
- Pantosaurus
- Plateosauridae
- Pleurocoelus
- Pliohippus
- Priacodon
- Priconodon
- Protoceras
- Pteranodon
- Pteranodon longiceps
S[]
T[]
- Theropoda
- Tillodontia
- Tinodon
- Torosaurus
- Triceratops
- Triconodontidae
- Tylosaurus
V[]
- Viverravus
Trivia[]
- In total, Marsh and Cope discovered and named around 136 prehistoric animals.
- Marsh hated the name 'Othniel', calling himself "Charles Marsh".
- Marsh was reputed to be a quarreller.